Big Change for SSI

 Big Change has arrived for SSI

 

People with disabilities may receive Supplemental Security Income or SSI.   Recipients of the benefit are required to report how they spend the stipend.  Until recently if a recipient paid less than fair market value for his/her rent, the difference between the fair market value and the actual rent was deducted from the stipend.

This situation was most likely to occur when the recipient lived at home or with other family members.  Yet, the benefit did not pay enough for fair market value in the open market AND the recipient’s disability often made it very difficult for him/her to live independently.

Recipients went to court in a number of states.  As a result, there was variety around the country.  In seven states, Connecticut, New York, Vermont, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Texas, monthly payments were not reduced if the recipient was paying more than a third of his/her income for housing even in those instances when it was less than fair market value.

With the new rule, Social Security will apply the less stringent standard nationwide.   Social Security administration expects that as a result of the new rule about 41,000 people will see their SSI payments increase an average of $132 a month.  An additional, 14,000 are expected to now qualify for SSI.

The new policy took effect on September 30.

This rule change is part of a wide-ranging effort to reconsider how the Social Security Administration is handling SSI payments.  Earlier in the spring, the Social Security Administration said it would also stop counting food as part of the “in-kind support and maintenance” this fall.  How Social Security views income from other public agencies is also being examined.

Martin O’Malley, Director of Social Security,  explained that the plan not only had huge benefits for recipients but it also reduced agency time spent calculating and administering rental subsidy.

A win-win for people with disabilities and the bureaucracy that serves them.